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Conduit Armor is an idea I have been playing around with recently, as I have been thinking about ways to make capital ships tougher using other methods than just increasing shield/armor/hp values. The main real-world principle/inspiration for this idea came from some books I read (Honor Harrington series). In these books, sometimes when ships took damage from energy weapons, the heat/electrical energy from these blasts would be conducted throughout the ships hull. So i thought a similar mechanic in StarMade might be interesting.
Simply put, a Conduit Armor Block (or CAB) would work like a logic block, however instead of sending and receiving on/off signals, it receives damage from weapons, and sends it damage signals to another Conduit Armor Block. passing the damage signals along the chain until it ends, at which point the last CAB is destroyed/damaged.
Its main role as Capital Ship armor is to create plates of armor that can direct damage away from critical areas of your ship in order to make Coring more difficult.
I wont go into crafting/purchasing requirements, other than to say that CABs should more expensive and/or take more time to craft than pretty much any other armor.
Notes on performance:
To avoid sending potentially hundreds of damage signals simultaneously:
- CABs should interact with explosive damage the same as other blocks.
- When receiving damage from a rapid fire weapon like a beam or cannon, the damage should be stored in a "buffer", and then sent out at configurable/dynamic* intervals, or after the CAB has stopped receiving damage for a configurable/dynamic* interval (the enemy stops shooting it).
*(by dynamic I mean that if the server is under load the interval is increased or the intervals for all the blocks are "scheduled" to go off at a rate the server can deal with)
I have come up with several options for the specific linkage rules, Balancing features these blocks would use:
Transfer Rules:
Set One A:
The core rule set for CABs. Make it as close to how logic/weapon computers work currently as possible.
1. Place a CAB.
2. Select the block with C.
3a. Place another CAB while the first block is selected, to have it automatically linked.
3b. Or select a previously placed CAB with the V key to link it to the first CAB.
Linkage Rules:
- CABs can only have one link out, and only one link in.
- Can link to any other CAB (in the same entity), regardless of location.
- When a CAB with no output receives a damage signal, it is damaged, if the weapon that sent the original damage had effects like punch through and the total damage exceeds the HP of the CAB, then the damage should be passed back up the chain until using whatever rules currently exist for these things. Any other affects should also be applied, as though the final CAB was the actual point of impact.
Set One B:
Linkage Rules:
CABs can only link to other CABs that are adjacent to them, or within a configurable range.
Set Two:
CABs transfer damage based on their orientation. To use an analogy: If a CAB were like a cannon barrel, it would send its damage signal into the block directly in front of it. If there is no block the CAB takes the damage, once again applying any weapon effects as though the impact location had been moved.
Balancing:
In order to balance this armor for larger entities, I have several options for the disadvantages CABs may have.
CAB Detonation:
When a CAB is destroyed when receiving a damage signal, it explodes, damaging all non CAB blocks (to prevent chain reactions) that are Adjacent to it. The amount of damage could be split evenly into each "space" adjacent to it, or each space could receive the same final damage output. Or perhaps the damage could be modified based on the power efficiency of the ship, or effect systems.
This disadvantage is mostly to reinforce the CABs role as a capital ship armor. Since, in order to limit the internal damage from CAB Detonation ship builders will want to have a buffer of empty space between the CABs and any blocks they want to protect. So; in order for CABs to be effective they could potentially take up two to five times the internal space (or even more if the detonation range is increased).
Some visual aids to represent this concept:
CABs Don't Receive Shield Protection:
This disadvantage is to prevent CABs from replacing regular armor blocks. In order to protect your CABs from damage while your shields are up, you will want to cover or obscure them with normal blocks that can be shielded. If this disadvantage were to be combined with CAB Detonation, it would further increase the internal space requirements of CAB blocks.
CABs Transfer limit:
This one will be difficult to balance the actual numbers on, but I thought it should be included anyway. Using the ships power efficiency or the efficiency of some new kind of CAB power system, A damage limit per CAB is calculated. If a CAB receives damage exceeding this limit, it is destroyed after it sends a damage signal containing the remainder of the damage not consumed to reach said limit, to the next block in the chain. Essentially inverting the chain's end point, and exposing the area of your ship that you are trying to direct damage away from.
My personal favorite combination of features is the second rule set combined with all of the disadvantages. I can imagine people making all kinds of configurations of CAB armor plates, like snaking patters and the like. Or using CABs to make PVE mobs with weakpoints. Like a death star with a one block wide tube to a CAB chain that leads to disintegrators, that will blow up the whole ship.
There could probably also be new weapon effects that do things like add a % chance to cause a CAB to detonate mid chain each time the damage from that weapon is transferred, or a new type of punch through effect that can pass through CAB plates. Existing effects could be applied in new ways too. For example: explosive effect on a projectile weapon could increase the detonation radius of CAB blocks.
Simply put, a Conduit Armor Block (or CAB) would work like a logic block, however instead of sending and receiving on/off signals, it receives damage from weapons, and sends it damage signals to another Conduit Armor Block. passing the damage signals along the chain until it ends, at which point the last CAB is destroyed/damaged.
Its main role as Capital Ship armor is to create plates of armor that can direct damage away from critical areas of your ship in order to make Coring more difficult.
I wont go into crafting/purchasing requirements, other than to say that CABs should more expensive and/or take more time to craft than pretty much any other armor.
Notes on performance:
To avoid sending potentially hundreds of damage signals simultaneously:
- CABs should interact with explosive damage the same as other blocks.
- When receiving damage from a rapid fire weapon like a beam or cannon, the damage should be stored in a "buffer", and then sent out at configurable/dynamic* intervals, or after the CAB has stopped receiving damage for a configurable/dynamic* interval (the enemy stops shooting it).
*(by dynamic I mean that if the server is under load the interval is increased or the intervals for all the blocks are "scheduled" to go off at a rate the server can deal with)
I have come up with several options for the specific linkage rules, Balancing features these blocks would use:
Transfer Rules:
Set One A:
The core rule set for CABs. Make it as close to how logic/weapon computers work currently as possible.
1. Place a CAB.
2. Select the block with C.
3a. Place another CAB while the first block is selected, to have it automatically linked.
3b. Or select a previously placed CAB with the V key to link it to the first CAB.
Linkage Rules:
- CABs can only have one link out, and only one link in.
- Can link to any other CAB (in the same entity), regardless of location.
- When a CAB with no output receives a damage signal, it is damaged, if the weapon that sent the original damage had effects like punch through and the total damage exceeds the HP of the CAB, then the damage should be passed back up the chain until using whatever rules currently exist for these things. Any other affects should also be applied, as though the final CAB was the actual point of impact.
Set One B:
Linkage Rules:
CABs can only link to other CABs that are adjacent to them, or within a configurable range.
Set Two:
CABs transfer damage based on their orientation. To use an analogy: If a CAB were like a cannon barrel, it would send its damage signal into the block directly in front of it. If there is no block the CAB takes the damage, once again applying any weapon effects as though the impact location had been moved.
Balancing:
In order to balance this armor for larger entities, I have several options for the disadvantages CABs may have.
CAB Detonation:
When a CAB is destroyed when receiving a damage signal, it explodes, damaging all non CAB blocks (to prevent chain reactions) that are Adjacent to it. The amount of damage could be split evenly into each "space" adjacent to it, or each space could receive the same final damage output. Or perhaps the damage could be modified based on the power efficiency of the ship, or effect systems.
This disadvantage is mostly to reinforce the CABs role as a capital ship armor. Since, in order to limit the internal damage from CAB Detonation ship builders will want to have a buffer of empty space between the CABs and any blocks they want to protect. So; in order for CABs to be effective they could potentially take up two to five times the internal space (or even more if the detonation range is increased).
Some visual aids to represent this concept:
(This example is using Rule Set Two, and I am using cannon barrels to represent the CABs)
Damage is received and transferred to the last CAB in the chain.
The CAB Detonates (represented by the explosive effect block). And the damage is sent to each space adjacent to it (represented by glass blocks), that is not occupied by another CAB. Ohnoes! This has destroyed the red blocks!
This hull cross-section shows both an effective and ineffective way to place CABs in your ship. Red is bad, Black is good.
Damage is received and transferred to the last CAB in the chain.
The CAB Detonates (represented by the explosive effect block). And the damage is sent to each space adjacent to it (represented by glass blocks), that is not occupied by another CAB. Ohnoes! This has destroyed the red blocks!
This hull cross-section shows both an effective and ineffective way to place CABs in your ship. Red is bad, Black is good.
CABs Don't Receive Shield Protection:
This disadvantage is to prevent CABs from replacing regular armor blocks. In order to protect your CABs from damage while your shields are up, you will want to cover or obscure them with normal blocks that can be shielded. If this disadvantage were to be combined with CAB Detonation, it would further increase the internal space requirements of CAB blocks.
CABs Transfer limit:
This one will be difficult to balance the actual numbers on, but I thought it should be included anyway. Using the ships power efficiency or the efficiency of some new kind of CAB power system, A damage limit per CAB is calculated. If a CAB receives damage exceeding this limit, it is destroyed after it sends a damage signal containing the remainder of the damage not consumed to reach said limit, to the next block in the chain. Essentially inverting the chain's end point, and exposing the area of your ship that you are trying to direct damage away from.
My personal favorite combination of features is the second rule set combined with all of the disadvantages. I can imagine people making all kinds of configurations of CAB armor plates, like snaking patters and the like. Or using CABs to make PVE mobs with weakpoints. Like a death star with a one block wide tube to a CAB chain that leads to disintegrators, that will blow up the whole ship.
There could probably also be new weapon effects that do things like add a % chance to cause a CAB to detonate mid chain each time the damage from that weapon is transferred, or a new type of punch through effect that can pass through CAB plates. Existing effects could be applied in new ways too. For example: explosive effect on a projectile weapon could increase the detonation radius of CAB blocks.
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